How To Trouble, Trouble.

Hezekiah then implored God to listen to the enemies threatening words and take note of— the devastation he has been causing in the Nations all around him.

Isaiah 37:17-19TLB Listen as I plead; see me as I pray. Look at this letter from King Sennacherib, for he has mocked the living God. 18 It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all those nations, just as the letter says, 19 and thrown their gods into the fire; for they weren’t gods at all but merely idols, carved by men from wood and stone. Of course the Assyrians could destroy them.

After presenting his case, Hezekiah turned his focus back on God and made a urgent plea for His intervention in their situation:

Isaiah 37:20TLB O Lord our God, save us so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you are God, and you alone.”

When Hezekiah prayed, God answered. Actually, God's response is recorded in detail in Isaiah 37:21–35 and 2 Kings 19:21–34.

2 Kings 19:35-37TM And it so happened that that very night an angel of God came and massacred 185,000 Assyrians. When the people of Jerusalem got up next morning, there it was—a whole camp of corpses!

36-37 Sennacherib king of Assyria got out of there fast, headed straight home for Nineveh, and stayed put. One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer murdered him and then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon became the next king.

What happened after Hezekiah prayed and ask God for help? God swung into action!

How do you trouble your trouble? How do you respond when trouble comes?

When trouble comes your way, do what Hezekiah did:

Go to the house of the Lord– get into His glorious presence.

Seek the Lord immediately– make Him your first response, not your last resort.

Once when I was a young boy a lady from Hartwell owned some property and a house a block off the Myrtle Beach. She invited my parents and us 3 children to stay there for a week. It was called the Last Resort and it definitely look like it. My parents had to run someone out of the house when we arrived.

Again, Seek the Lord!

Place the entire problem before the Lord and leave it there.

Pray earnestly about the situation– praising God for His goodness in the past and inviting Him to go to work on your behalf for the present.

The bottom line is: Let the Lord fight for you. Yes, you may have to face the battle, but you don't have to fight it.

Benediction.